[Date Prev][Date Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next][Date Index][Thread Index]
Re: Visibility Campaign
Hi not sure if this is what you were after but there is a UN funded AIDS
project in Vietnam which can be contacted thru <email>
>
> If anyone has the email or subscription information for the UN funded Aids
> project in Vietnam, I would like to have it.
>
for peoples information
Beer and Hugs: Community Development through English classes among
commercial sex workers in restaurants in the capital of Vietnam.
A paperdelivered at the 11th International Conference on AIDS in Vancouver,
Canada 7-12 July 1996
Jamie Uhrig, Project Officer UNDP, UNAIDS, 138 Giang
Vo, Hanoi
Duyen Kauffman, Centre for Health Education and AIDS
Counselling, 138 Giang Vo, Hanoi
Issue
Vietnam is a developing country with an economy in transition. In the
last several years its economy has
been growing at an annual rate of almost 10%. Rapid economic growth has
lead to income disparity and migration of both men and women to find work
is becoming more common. Commercial ex is highly prevalent in Vietnam.
It is officially illegal. For the past 40 years prostitution has been
suppressed or controlled in the northern part of the country and since
reunification 20 years ago it has also been suppressed in the south.
Recently prostitution has been subject to a campaign to eradicate it as a
'social evil'.
There are several microepidemics of HIV infection in
Vietnam at present. There is an epidemic amongst male injecting drug
users and a smaller one among female sex workers. Working with sex
workers for HIV prevention is made difficult by the dual status of sexual
prostitution as an accepted but illegal activity.
The Project
Sex workers who work in restaurants known as 'bia o^m' or beer and hugs
are relatively easy to reach for HIV prevention activities. They come to
work in the late morning and stay until evening. They serve men with
extra attention and have opportunities to make verbal agreements for
later sexual services off the premises.
Some women who work in bia o^m restaurants expressed a
need to learn English. Two expatriate community health professionals saw
an opportunity to use English classes as a focus for community
development. Workplace English classes for 150 restaurant workers were
organised in Hanoi. Vietnamese teachers of English and commercial sex
worker peer educators ran these classes. Some of the teachers were also
medical doctors. The goal of this activity was to reduce the chances of
women contracting HIV infection and other sexually transmitted diseases
and to provide women with a forum to discuss issues of mutual concern in a
safe and caring atmosphere so that they may begin to see themselves as
members of a community.
The project was named by an acronym from the title
'Lop tieng Anh Nha Hang' or English classes in restaurants. The acronym
La\nh means pure or good in Vietnamese.
Results
Most restaurant workers were concerned about HIV and STD's, though they
expressed many other more pressing concerns. They were most worried
about long term job security and the stigma they would suffer if family
or friends discovered that they were working in Bia o^m restaurants.
The health issues that were most frequently discussed were sicknesses or
symptoms that the women were
currently experiencing. Some women were referred to hospitals and clinics
and others were given health advice directly by their physician teachers.
Knowledge about HIV was great and increased throughout the project but
condom use was sporadic. Condoms were requested by some of the women. By
then end of the project only few of the women saw themselves as members of
a community
Lessons Learned
Indigenous NGO's and community based organisations as they are perceived
by the international HIV/AIDS
community do not exist yet in Vietnam. It is very difficult for
traditionally trained community health workers in the government
institution implementing the project to feel comfortable with the
ambiguity involved in working to improve the health of women involved in
any illegal activity. The community development approach of the project
did not take root in this institution. Another reason that the community
development was impeded was that the project was implemented at the same
time as a major national campaign against 'social evils' was launched.
Women working in restaurants were required to register their names and
addresses so some women left the classes in order to avoid registration
and the resulting stigma.
Jamie Uhrig can be contacted by email
<email>
-
-------------------------------------------------------------------